1. The Field of the Invention
This invention relates to electrical devices and, more particularly, to novel systems and methods for securing face plates to electrical outlets, switches, or the like.
2. The Background Art
Typically, the structures used to connect a face plate to an electrical fixture (e.g., outlet, switch, etc.) are limited by safety concerns. Specifically, it was believed that the connection between the decorative face plate and the electrical fixture must be of a certain strength to ensure that someone (e.g., a child) could not inadvertently remove the face plate, contact the terminals of the electrical fixture, and receive an electrical shock. This presumes that the fixture has no such protection absent the decorative face plate. It is time to eliminate that presumption.
What is needed is a new apparatus and method for preventing someone from inadvertently contacting the terminals on an electrical fixture, even when no decorative face plate is in place. By so doing, new structures that are more convenient, aesthetically pleasing, and the like may be used to secure a face plate to an electrical fixture. Moreover, new attachment schemes, greater ease of installation, more decorative freedom, and the like may be more readily available under such relaxed structural requirements.